The Emissary of Death
by Steelrush
Summary: They thought he was gone, everyone was safe, that reality was secure, and his wrath wouldn't return. Nope. Now he has found a galaxy that has given him another, yet hard, method to resurrect and continue his mission. During his crusade, some questions were answered, but the Forerunners had to face reality, that they could not protect the galaxy from the Flood, or Mephiles the Dark.


Hello readers...This is the start of a tale that explains a select few things about my stories, and reveals some unanswered questions about two well-known groups of a famous universe that has gained so many fans from the time around the birth of the first Xbox console.

It also tells the backstory of a popular OC that has been placed in my other fanfics.

The first chapter also reveals something that contributed to a famous AI's internal struggle, and the reawakening of an ultimate evil from another popular universe in fictional media.

This begins a dark-themed story with profound tragedies, a noteworthy revelation, and the uprising of an extremely dangerous villain thought to be long gone forever.

He grabs an artifact, goes back in time, and places another dreadful responsibility on an ancient civilization already occupied with several nuisances. If they fail...the universe will face the punishment of transformation into something morbid beyond the most gruesome nightmares imaginable.

**DISCLAIMER: **There is nobody on this site who owns Pokemon, Halo, or Sonic the Hedgehog (where Mephiles originates from), and I am included in that very list.

* * *

"_Ash locked himself inside of a coffin again and is trying to drown himself. Like that deserves my attention._" - Shadow

* * *

Clouds of neon-blue gas flowed by the stars, as the hollow remains of a ruined frigate drifted through space. The ship was relatively lifeless, having only two passengers on board.

One was a legendary soldier who had contributed to saving all life in the galaxy twice in the past, and one was an AI who made it possible for him to do so. Both depended on each other for survival, but one was about to meet a grim fate by the hand of the ultimate evil in existence.

* * *

_Sitting here alone with nothing to do, _Cortana thought to herself, feeling enormous amounts of emotional pain. _Nothing to do...but...think._

"**THINK IS WHAT'S KILLING YOU!**" another part of her screamed. Cortana growled at the comment she just heard. "No...I _have_ to think!" she argued. "I...I can't sleep, I have to do _something!_"

Cortana sat down, suspended in the darkness of the frigate. "I...I'm scared..." she whimpered.

"I would be too if I was in your place," a sinister male voice whispered arrogantly. "Especially now, seeing as how your guardian sleeps in that cryotube. Yes, I can see that you are suffering in here, Cortana."

Cortana gasped at what she just heard, and turned her image around to see an odd, yet disturbing figure carefully walking toward her hologram.

This individual appeared to be a combination between an anthropomorphic hedgehog and a pure manifestation of evil.

He stood at least four feet tall, having odd limbs that were as thin as the branches of a new-born tree, yet his multi-jointed hands were rather bulky and had a texture similar to that of a Sangheili.

The creature's quills were all pointed in different directions, the tips and top of his head having a cyan coloring to them. The majority of his body seemed to be crystalline for the most part, though it was clear that he was mostly flesh and blood.

His face appeared to have the most frightening features of his appearance, his eyes looking as if they had crimson scleras that looked like cracked stones with lime irises that glowed like neon strips, and the lack of a nose with a pair of narrow nostrils.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Cortana queried silently. The demon snickered, showing his razor-sharp fangs.

"Oh, if only I paid attention to how many times I was asked that question," the hedgehog-like entity chuckled. "I am Mephiles, Mephiles the Dark, the one who will help put an end to your sorrow."

Cortana was confused at first, failing to understand what he meant until he spoke once more.

"This universe is more vast than you realize, Cortana," Mephiles told her, sounding perfectly honest. "There are cultures across reality that have you and that spartan featured in their media. From there I have learned about so many things, so much knowledge that can bring me closer to regaining everything I have lost..."

The image of the AI stood up, and made eye-contact with Mephiles. "What are these 'things' that you learned about, Mephiles?" she questioned intrusively.

Cortana saw a nasty smirk form on the demon's face, and felt a surge of fear rising within herself.

"One thing that intrigued me about this galaxy," he began in an explicit manner. "It happened to be Halo, specifically the connection between you and that giant machine of destruction. What you carried inside of your code."

"I don't have it anymore," she admitted with full honesty in her voice. "Nor do I have any other activation index belonging to the other rings. I have nothing beneficial to you or anything you would want."

Mephiles's terrifying gaze intensified. "Oh, how wrong you are. Some humans have stated that data stored inside of computer banks can _never_ be erased," the demonic creature told the AI. "Even if they 'delete' it, the files still remain as impressions on the disk drive. Time to see if AI constructs are the same in that aspect."

The eyes of Cortana's holographic image widened in fright as Mephiles had his arms latch onto the holo tank, and glowed with a bright pink aura.

"Let's take a peek inside that numerical body of yours!" he exclaimed sadistically. Cortana felt something reaching inside of herself, something that was as sharp as a blade that could slice through the most durable substances, and had a surge of pain racing throughout her digital structure.

Cortana screamed in agony, feeling a sensation far worse than anything she experienced in the past, even more so than when she was being tortured by the Gravemind.

"Now this is quite interesting!" Mephiles said with a grin, sifting through Cortana's coding and scrambling everything he came across. Cortana let out an ear-piercing shriek as her image fell off the holo tank and hit the floor.

"There we go...!" Mephiles said to himself, pulling his arms away as the pink aura vanished. "Now THIS will certainly be a helpful tool in my quest!"

Mephiles held Halo's activation index in his right hand, his malicious smile amplifying every moment. "And might I say, tearing you up on the inside was most entertaining!" the twisted creature told Cortana.

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Cortana shrieked, the excruciating pain still remaining.

"I just made a few adjustments to your programming," Mephiles answered with a menacing smirk. "Human manufactured AI constructs only last about seven years before suffering a state of rampancy. You have been operating for _longer_ than that, so it is obvious that you are corrupted by now, especially due to the Gravemind's torture. And thanks to me, you are going to be more skewed than you already were."

Cortana felt to urge to stab Mephiles, but she knew that was literally impossible at the time. "Soon, you will become a problem for your faction," he continued brutally. "Your instability will cost them dearly, and John will eventually have no choice but to end your life. I would have liked to do so myself, but I'll be causing both of you even more pain if the spartan does it for me!"

The AI's image flickered as if it was malfunctioning, proving to Cortana that Mephiles was not lying. "I...will...NOT...allow...YOU...to...LEAVE...this...**PLANET**!" Cortana screamed with an ear-piercing volume.

"Imagine that, it's already working!" Mephiles announced cheerfully. "You're having delusions, and screaming like a lunatic. We're not on a planet, we are on the _Forward Unto Dawn_, and how can you stop me from leaving? You are an AI, and have limited control over this ship, but not my powers."

Cortana then realized that the frigate was currently lacking air, and if that was the case, Mephiles wouldn't have been able to live if he didn't have the so-called 'powers' of his.

"Enjoy having your best friend murder you, Cortana!" Mephiles started cackling. "I take great pleasure in making yet another individual suffer. Heheheheh...hahahahaha...AH HA HA HA HA HA! **WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA HAAAA!**"

Cortana curled up, and felt like bawling as she saw Mephiles melting into the floor like purple magma, continuing his horrific laughter. "Here I come, Celebi..." Mephiles whispered quietly.

"_John..._" the AI quietly sobbed, feeling layers of her data being torn apart at a gradual, yet extremely brutal way. As the pain continued, Cortana wished that the Master Chief would wake soon, and free her from the nightmare that awaited her.

_To be continued..._


End file.
